Daniel Odier

After studying at Fine Arts in Rome and at the École des Hautes Études in Paris, Daniel went to India where he met Dudjom Rinpoche in Kalimpong in 1968. He received the teaching of Dzogchen. That same year, he became the disciple of Kalu Rinpoche, followed his teaching and received the transmission of Mahamudra. Fascinated by Chan, or Chinese Zen, Daniel studied the affinities between Chan and Kashmir Tantrism, inspired by the Chinese scholar C.M. Chen.

Seven years later, Daniel met the Yogini Lalita Devî in Kashmir who transmitted the Kashmiri Mahamudra to him. He received the deepest mystical teachings through the Spanda and Pratyabhijna paths as well as Kaula, the royal path of Shakti.

In the 1980s, Daniel taught literature and then Tantrism and Buddhism at several American universities, notably in California. Still passionate about the great similarities between Tantra and Chan, he founded the Tantra/Chan center in Paris in 1995. In order to encourage independent practice, he closed the center in 2000.

In 2005, in Bailin, China, Daniel received transmission from the great Chan master Jing Hui, disciple of Xu Yun (Empty Cloud). Daniel was recognized as a Chan Master (Sifu). In his teaching, he brings together the two paths that are so dear to him: Tantrism and Chan.

Dudjom Rinpoché

Kalou Rinpoché

Daniel Odier with Jing Hui

Daniel gives seminars all over the world.

Daniel's teaching, based on the practices of the Vijnanabhairava Tantra and the Kaulajnananirnaya Tantra received from his master, the Kashmiri Yogini Lalita Devî, is marked by a direct and spontaneous relationship with his students and a devastating sense of humor, in a spirit far removed from religiosity or conformity.

This teaching does not aim to develop a theoretical knowledge of the path, but on the contrary to bring about an inversion of the dynamics of the search: there is nothing to find outside of oneself. It is about encouraging the great return to the heart advocated by Abhinavagupta and all the Kashmiri mystics of whom Lalla represents the supreme quintessence.

ESSAYS, NOVELS, AND POEMS

Daniel is also the author of novels, poems and an opera libretto. As soon as his first writings were published, Anaïs Nin recognized him as "a sparkling poet, an extraordinary writer". His books on Chan and Tantrism have been translated into fifteen languages, and deal with the deepest aspects of these two paths.